Wrong-way driver causes fatal crash in Gilbert

PHOENIX — A driver in a pickup truck going the wrong direction caused two fatalities in a head-on crash early Sunday morning in Gilbert, Ariz., the Arizona Department of Public Safety said.

The collision happened on the eastbound Loop 202 Santan Freeway shortly before 2 a.m., DPS said, and the highway was promptly closed in both directions between Highley and Williams Field roads for several hours.

The Arizona Department of Transportation said the freeway wasn’t reopened to drivers until nearly 11 a.m.

The driver in the pickup truck is in serious condition, while a passenger sustained non-life-threatening injuries, DPS said. Both were taken to a hospital.

Two people in the other vehicle have died, DPS said.

Officials have not yet released the names of anyone involved.

Sunday’s accident was the third caused by a wrong-way driver in the Valley in a span of a week, the other two also involving fatalities. Arizona DPS recently told KTAR that wrong-way drivers are a common phenomenon in the state. DPS gets calls about wrong-way drivers almost daily, but not every incident results in a crash.